Walesa visits Mayo

Walesa visit a huge boost to Rehab

Anton McNulty

THE FORMER President of Poland and leader of the Solidarity trade union, Lech Walesa was the guest of Rehab last weekend when he made a special three-day visit to Mayo.
Walesa, a former electrician in the Gdansk shipyard, played a prominent role in the downfall of Communism in Poland and his popularity in Mayo was evident as large crowds turned out to greet the former Nobel Peace Prize winner wherever he went.
Former President Walesa arrived in Mayo, through Ireland West Airport Knock, on Friday afternoon, where he was warmly received. The following day he attended a special Mass at Knock Basilica – which was also attended by a large number of Poles living in Mayo – before planting a tree in the grounds of the Basilica in memory of Pope John Paul II. He also visited Hennigan’s Irish Heritage Farm in Swinford on Saturday.
On Saturday evening – described as the highlight of his visit to Mayo – he addressed, through an interpreter, some 400 guests at the Rehab Fundraising Gala Banquet Dinner in the Breaffy House Hotel which was hosted by Joe Kennedy, the Chairman of the Organising Committee.
Mr Kevin Bourke of Rehab in Mayo said that the visit of former President Walesa to Mayo was a great success and raised the profile of Rehab considerably.
“The visit of such a high profile person like President Lech Walesa was a great success for Rehab. It not just raised the profile of Rehab in Mayo but also nationwide and that could be seen by the coverage his visit got in the national papers. It also raised the profile in Europe and Poland, where we are opening a facility soon,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday morning, President Walesa was the guest of Castlebar Town Council at the Breaffy House Hotel, where a civic reception was hosted in his honour. The new Mayor of Castlebar, Cllr Eugene McCormack said he was delighted to welcome President Walesa to Castlebar and compared his achievements and values to those of great Irish leaders, Charles Stewart Parnell, Daniel O’Connell and Michael Davitt in uniting the country by peaceful means.
“Parts of our two nations have had many parallels and have been dominated by powerful neighbours who kept us in subservience for years. One of the results of this was that great leaders have been produced and, from an Irish point of view, all of these great leaders had a lot in common with Lech Walesa. They had a vision of what they wanted for their people and had a determination to see it through right to the end,” he said.
Mayor McCormack added that the bonds of friendship between Poland and Ireland have been enhanced by the large number of Polish people who have come to Ireland over the last number of years.
President Walesa thanked the Town Council for the civic reception and said the Irish and Polish people were very much alike. He said that values shared by Ireland and Poland should serve as the groundwork for the construction of the new Europe rather than privileges and freedom only. He said he was doubtful if anything stable could be based on the proposals of the EU Constitution.
Among the presentations made to President Walesa by the Town Council was a framed photograph of the town and a bouquet of flowers to his wife Danuta. Also presented was a ring found on a bird by Jack Geraghty of Newport which had ‘Gdañsk, Poland, 1978’ inscribed on it. Coincidentally, the ring was found in 1980 in Newport during the time when Lech Walesa and the Solidarity movement in Gdansk was coming to the world’s attention.